- Numerous Mercedes-Benz racing cars from different eras at the start
- Mick Schumacher drives the Formula One racing car of his father Michael Schumacher
- Remembrance of great Mercedes-Benz racing victories: Grand Prix of Tripoli 1939, double victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1952 and 1989, overall victory at Paris-Dakar 1983
- 20 years of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
Mercedes-Benz Heritage presents Silver Arrows and super sports cars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2023. From 13 to 16 July 2023, the brand’s unique racing history will be brought to life for the more than 210,000 expected visitors. On the 1.86-kilometre, slightly uphill tarmac strip in the park at Goodwood House, as well as on the Forest Rally Stage, renowned brand ambassadors will drive a dozen famous racing sports cars and sports cars from Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG built between 1939 and 2023. This promises a thrilling combination of speed, sound and the aesthetic appeal of the Silver Arrows.
Festival of Speed in shining silver
The Goodwood Festival of Speed has been hosted by Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, the Duke of Richmond, at his family’s country estate for 30 years. The event is affectionately known as the “largest motorised garden party in the world”. Every year since 1993, racing cars and sports cars from the very early years of motorsport to current vehicles can be seen in action here, especially on the hillclimb track. The attractive supporting programme extends far beyond motorsport and includes insights into the mobility of the future.
The racing cars presented by Mercedes-Benz Heritage recall highlights of motorsport history. Between the driving events, the vehicles can be admired in the Classic Car Paddock.
- The oldest operational vehicle presented by Mercedes-Benz Heritage is the Mercedes-Benz W 165. It was developed for a single race, the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix. Despite a change in the race regulations, it enabled Mercedes-Benz to compete in the prestigious competition and achieve a double victory: Hermann Lang won the race with this Silver Arrow, ahead of his teammate Rudolf Caracciola.
- The double victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 1952 was one of the great successes of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL racing sports car (W 194). In that year, the brand made a highly successful return to motor racing: the 300 SL also won the Berne Prize, the Nürburgring Grand Jubilee Prize for sports cars and the Carrera Panamericana. In the famous 24-hour race, Hermann Lang shared the eventual winning car with Fritz Rieß. The 300 SL with the distinctive blue radiator grille surround is brought to Goodwood by a private collector.
- With the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (W 196 S) racing sports car, the brand won the 1955 World Sports Car Championship. Great successes included the legendary victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia by Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson, with start number 722. The vehicle presented at Goodwood is the 300 SLR with chassis number 10 – the last racing sports car of this type to be built. It was not used in races in 1955 but was scheduled to compete in 1956 – as were the famous 300 SLR “Uhlenhaut Coupés”. However, at the end of the 1955 season, at the height of its success, Mercedes-Benz withdrew from motor racing for a period and concentrated entirely on the development of new passenger cars.
- 40 years ago, a Mercedes-Benz 280 GE was the overall winner of the legendary Paris–Dakar Rally. The aerodynamic improvements made to the off-road vehicle were particularly unusual. G-specialist Jörg Sand built the 280 GE rally car presented at Goodwood as a true replica of the original winning car driven by Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur in 1983. The vehicle will be used on the Forest Rally Stage.
- In 1989, Jochen Mass, Stanley Dickens and Manuel Reuter won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Sauber-Mercedes C 9. Their vehicle is on display at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. At Goodwood, Mercedes-Benz Classic is showing the second-placed car driven by Mauro Baldi, Kenny Acheson and Gianfranco Brancatelli.
- The uncompromisingly open Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss (Z 199) of 2009 crowned the development of this series of high-performance sports cars. 20 years ago, Mercedes-Benz together with McLaren, its Formula One partner at the time, presented the coupé with gullwing doors as the first model in the series.
- The MGP W02 dates from 2011 and, in that season, it was driven by the duo of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. Mick Schumacher, a test driver for the Mercedes-AMG Formula One team since 2023, will drive his father’s racing car at Goodwood.
- In 2021, the Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance won the Formula One Constructors’ Championship with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Grand Prix driver Esteban Gutiérrez will drive the monoposto from the hybrid era that was so successful for the brand at Goodwood.
- The two racing cars will be on display in the Formula One Pit Lane.
- Mercedes-AMG is showing the peak of supercar engineering with the Mercedes-AMG ONE. Formula One technology enables a system output of 782 kW (1,063 hp) to be achieved.
- Also taking to the track at Goodwood are a still camouflaged variant of the next-generation Mercedes-AMG GT and a Mercedes-AMG GT2 customer sports racing car.
- The Mercedes-AMG ONE and the new Mercedes-AMG GT can be seen in the Supercar Paddock, while the Mercedes-AMG GT2 is presented in the Classic Car Paddock.
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